DESI GNGARDENST UDY GROUP

ISSN 1039 – 9062ABN 82 428 110 028

Newsletter February 2015

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A U S T R A L I A N N A T IV E P L A N T S A S S O C I A T IO N ( A U S T )A B N 5 6 6 5 4 0 5 3 6 7 6

NEWSLETTER EDITORRosalind Walcott10 Wickham Cres. Red Hill ACT 2603ph: (02) 6161 2742email: rwalcott@netspeed.com.au

STUDY GROUP LEADER AND TREASURER / MEMBERSHIPBenjamin Walcott10 Wickham Cres. Red Hill, ACT 2603ph: (02) 6161 2742email: bwalcott@netspeed.com.au

Website: http:// anpsa.org.au/design or Google ‘Garden Design Study Group’

Leader’s Comments:

Happy New Year to you all and here is the first Newsletter of 2015. The Newsletters of 2014 havebeen indexed by Glenda Browne and the updated index is on the website. In case you haven’t triedit, it is an easy and quick way of finding articles from the Newsletter. Notice also that we havedecided to have these Newsletters uploaded on the website as they are published. Previously therehas been a year lag between publishing and posting on the website. This year long lag wasintroduced some time ago to encourage people to join the Study Group and to pay the dues.However, the lag slows down our ability to disseminate the information on garden design as widelyand as quickly as possible. If we see that membership drops off significantly, we can always go backto the year lag.Please send us a picture and a few words on your own or other’s gardens. What you have done orare doing will certainly be of interest to others. The point of the Newsletter and Study Group is toshare ideas.Correspondence

Gail Knight, Canberra

Dear RosThank you for the latest GDSG Newsletter. Once again it’s teeming with articles and the colourphotos really make the stories come alive. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every article.

Pam Yarra, Victoria

Hi  Ros & Ben,Thanks for a great newsletter & yes, as previously said, the colour photos make a difference.Also congratulations on achieving such fame. Your garden on the stamp  was a wonderfulachievement  & I hope one day to see it in its entirety.No doubt this summer will be a challenge for all of us, but more for those people like you with largegardens.A response to my article by a member set me thinking. She hadn’t read it, as it was not aboutAustralian gardens!! Also in today’s Age is information about a speaker , one of the world’s leadinglandscape historians, John Dixon Hunt. His lecture at Melbourne University is called “The Lie of theLand”. His talk will examine the idea, that all landscape architecture” is essentially and excitingly alie”, by looking at six different designs from 16th to 20th centuries. These  two issues set me thinkingabout garden design  & garden landscaping & the universal influences on Australian gardens. Manypeople see Australian plant gardens as “bush type gardens”, but as we know it can take the form ofmany types, including cottage, formal & more recently vertical gardens. With so many Australians

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from different cultures(including us), I see a role for ANPSA to be flexible &  embrace many ways to design or landscape using Australian plants.I am interested in history of Australian gardening  (getting Anne Latreille’s book for mybirthday), as well as other cultures.Also I am curious about both of your backgrounds, having read excerpts from Canberraarticle??Many thanks again & look forward to your comments,Pam

Eleanor Hodges, Victoria

Good evening Ben,I have just been enjoying the Newsletter and it reminded me that I probably need torenew my membership.  Is it still $10.00 and what is the best way to get it to you? (Ed.See back page) Congratulations on being chosen for the stamp and postcard – itcertainly looks a well-deserved selection as the garden looks very beautiful in thephotos.  Where in Canberra do you live?  I spent a year at ANU in the late ‘80s and havesome knowledge of the city layout.

Redesigning a Native Meadow Words Ros Walcott, Canberra Photos Ben Walcott, Canberra

The original design for our garden, completed in 2003 by landscape architect HelenCohen, included a large native meadow appoximately 1100 square metres in area. Thisspace was where all the heavy equipment was parked during the nine months ofconstruction of our house and garden and by the end of that process the soil was packeddown as hard as a rock. To our surprise our garden company, Able Landscaping, did notrip this area to make it more acceptable for planting, but planted directly into the rock-like soil using a drill. Their explanation was that in their experience ripping only resultedin a myriad of weeds taking the opportunity to grow in the disturbed soil.

The planting of the meadow was an amazing process involving three planters over threedays planting over 20,000 viro tubes of grasses, forbs and lilies. They drilled a hole withan electric drill, dropped in a gel containing water retaining crystals and fertilizer, thenplanted the viro tube and moved to the next hole very efficiently. The meadow plantsgrew quite quickly in the first six months, especially the grasses. Particular favouriteswere Themeda australis, Microlaena stipoides and Themeda australis ‘Mingo’. Bulbinebulbosa prospered in the meadow, as did Chrysocephalum apiculatum andWahlenbergia communis. Some plants appeared only in the first few months thendisappeared. Others never appeared at all. Some of the plants stipulated in the plantingplan were not available and were substituted by other varieties, see Tables 1 and 2. In2007, four years after the original planting, the meadow was refreshed with new plants ascan be seen in Table 3. Over the 11 years we had the meadow we scattered seeds ofXanthorrhea australis, Austrostipa elegantissima and Austrostipa mollis, and addedmany plants such as Austrostipa scabra, Austrostipa verticillata, Bulbine glauca, Bulbinesemibarbata, Chrysocephalum semipapposum, Joycea pallida, and Leucochrysum

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albicans. Some plants we added never made an appearance, Ajuga australis, Ammobiumcraspedioides, Bracteantha viscosa, Cymbonotus lawsonianus (Austral Bear’s Ear)Disphyma clavellatum (Native Pigface) Hypoxis hygrometrica (Golden Weather Grass)Leptorhynchos squamatus (Scaly Buttons) Tricoryne elatior (Yellow Rush Lily) Vittardiniamuelleri and Wurmbea dioica (Early Nancy).

The meadow in January 2012 with the Ammobium alatum in bloom

Ammobium alatum or Tall Ammobium was a special case. There were only 6 of theseplants provided in July 2003. I was very excited at the idea of this one metre high wingedgrey-leaved plant with white daisy flowers and checked the small patch of plants everymorning to note progress. Imagine my horror when I saw six Sulphur Crested Cockatoospulling out the plants and munching on the roots. I went crying to Ben that I would neverhave any ammobiums as the birds had eaten them all. I was very distraught. However, Ibegan to notice grey winged plants popping up everywhere, not only in the meadow butalso in the path and adjacent beds. Not only did I have ammobium, I had perhaps too manyammobiums. Those of you who have been to our garden will know that we still have manyammobium plants and some of them not in very appropriate places, but I continue to lovethe plant and just pull it out when it gets too obstreperous.

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Table 2

Plants offered by Warren Ganter as substitutions andagreed at meeting on 6 November 2003

Ajuga australisBrachyscome speciesCraspedia variabilisCymbonotus lawsonianusDianella tasmanicaHypoxis hygrometricaPelargonium speciesRanunculus speciesTricoryne elatiorWurmbea dioica

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Table 3

Refreshment of meadow areas4-5 July 2007

2000 plants supplied and planted at 95 cents each

Bracteantha viscosaBulbine glaucaCalocephalus citreusChrysocephalum apiculatumJuncus usitatusLeucochrysum (white)Leucochrysum (yellow)Wahlenbergia spp.

The meadow was a source of conflict over the years that we maintained it. It wasbeautiful when in bloom, in December, with the ammobium providing the main show. Red-Browed Finches loved the ammobium seeds, as did the Crimson Rosellas. We hadnumerous nests of Red-Browed Finches in the Bunya Pine. These elegant grass nestsprovided plenty of interest while in operation both for nesting and roosting. Many speciesof butterflies also were attracted to the meadow, even the spectacular OrchardSwallowtails.

However, weeding of the meadow was always a problem. We had several infestations ofweeds such as Couch Grass and Vetch. We were forced to abandon one section of themeadow because couch grass was impossible to eradicate without poisoning all plantmaterial in that area. This section was redeveloped as a general garden bed severalyears ago after ridding ourselves of the couch.

If we watered the meadow enough to make the meadow plants thrive, this is also enoughwater to ensure that the exotic weeds gifted to us by the birds also thrive. I have seensuccessful meadows, Christopher Lloyd’s at Great Dixter in Kent springs to mind, but Iwarn anyone thinking of establishing one that they are very hard work.

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Early in 2014 we finally got permission from ACTPLA (ACT Planning and Land Authority)to remove eight large pine trees (Pinus radiata) from our property that were planted circa1930. These trees were beginning to senesce after 80-85 years, drop limbs and generallybecome a nuisance. We wanted to remove them before we ever started our garden in2003, but were unsuccessful in our request, even though this was Dr. Robert Boden’srecommendation and he was the one who wrote the tree guide for the ACT. Removal ofthe trees necessitated a one hundred tonne crane being used and the only place to parksuch a crane was on the meadow. The consequent trashing of the meadow was animpetus to us to either decide to keep it and replant it, or get rid of it.

I was very happy to redevelop the meadow in another guise and Ben was less so. Hereally enjoyed the unstructured appearance of the meadow. I was tired of explaining tomany visitors that we were not ignoring this space and developing it later, but had indeedalready put major effort into planting and maintaining this garden area. There were reallyonly two reactions to the meadow ‘I love it’ or ‘when are you going to start to garden in thisarea?’

After the removal of the pines in April/May 2014 we then had to redesign and redevelopthe meadow, an area of about 600 square metres. We poisoned the grasses, forbs andlilies that we had put in over a decade (more than 20,000 plants in all), skinned off the topsoil and plant material, discarded it, then mechanically churned up the soil with a digger,added more light and friable soil then churned it up again. The soil added was the samesort that is used under turf and we had used it before when filling in a pond which did notthrive. I then walked around with sticks and mapped out new paths. I had a good idea ofthe general curved and hooked paths I wanted. We created swales around each new bedand filled the swales with large river pebbles for drainage. We used a gold-coloured gravelmulch in this area to contrast with the dark mulch used elsewhere in the garden and alsowith the narrow mulched wheelbarrow paths through the new garden. The paths are madefrom crushed granite and were rolled and compressed mechanically.

Clearing the old meadow in July 2014

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We wanted rocks in one section of the new garden. Newline Quarry, Queanbeyan, wherewe sourced rocks for other sections of the garden, has been closed. We managed to findsuitable rocks at Bundanoon, but due to a chapter of accidents, with floods, boggedtractors, impassable roads and sickness of the owner of said rocks, we were unable toobtain them in a timely fashion. It was disappointing, but I decided to build myself abarchan dune where the rocks were supposed to be placed. A barchan dune is a crescent-shaped sand dune produced by the action of wind predominately from one direction wherethe crescent tips point downwind. Some of these dunes can reach heights of 30 metresand widths of 350 metres, but mine is a modest affair only a metre high and 15 metreslong. It is now anchored by a specimen of Eucalyptus caesia magna ‘Silver Princess’.

The beds are irrigated with sprays about 0.5m high. We will not use drip irrigation again inour garden as we have found it much too difficult to maintain. The ants climb into thedripper and block them at every turn. The first time that you know that the dripper isblocked is when you notice the plant is dead. Sprays can be raised as plants grow so thatthey continue to give good coverage. We irrigate at night so evaporation is limited.We were able to save all the trees that we had put in over the years so the area still hasmuch-needed light shade and frost protection. We attended a marvellous afternoon visitto John Weatherstone’s property in Gundaroo in 2006 where the enlightened propertyowner had planted 100,000 trees of all kinds to mitigate the effects of drought on hisproperty. He found that the shade from these trees encouraged grass to grow to feed hisstock, quite against the common farming practice and belief of the time. We came homeinspired to plant more trees, even in the meadow area, which was originally full sun. Weplanted Eucalyptus camphora, E. gunnii, E. luehmanniana, E. polyanthmos, E. maideniiand E. stricta, and we had previously planted E. sideroxylon rosea to make the new house‘sit down’ in its environment.

Laying out of the paths with the subsoil of the garden beds dug

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The last of the topsoil being delivered in August 2014

The new garden in late August before planting

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We then had to find enough plants to fill up the beds and are still working on that. Weare concentrating on plants one metre high by one metre wide or smaller. We want tokeep the original design of relatively open space in front of the house. We went to theRogers Seminar in Bendigo, Victoria in October, so were able to access the GoldfieldsRevegetation Nursery and brought  back 120 plants from there. We are waiting to buysome of  Angus Stewart’s new line of ‘landscape’ Kangaroo Paws to put in the newbeds.

I see the doubt in some people’s faces when they see the large expanse of goldpebbles where the meadow used to be. I encourage them to come back in two yearstime to see that the plants will have grown to cover the pebbles. We just have to wait forthe plants to grow!

UK nurseries suffer from cheap plantsGardenDrum December 15, 2014Plant prices in the UK have sunk to historic 40 year lows, with many nurseriesstruggling to break even.Several nursery chains have reported large losses or, like Mahoods, have closed, partly due toplant prices slumping through over-supply and a slow sales market.Prices as low as 90p for a Lonicera ‘Maygreen’ or even 10p for a hawthorn are about what theseplants were selling for back in the 1970s. Low prices are also hurting landscapers by reducingtheir mark-up margins on plant reselling.

So while you may relish a cheap plants bargain, you might not have a local nursery businessaround to sell it to you by the end of 2015.

The garden in November 2014 after some planting has been done

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Sculpture in the Garden

Sculpture from the BushlandSculpture Garden of theMaroochy Bushland BotanicGarden. Photographs taken atANPSA Biennial Conference inAugust 2013

Photos by Ben Walcott

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Dilemmas of a designerMichael McCoy March 3, 2014

While I design gardens for a living, I sometimes wonder if I’m more an educator or anevangelist, as I want nothing more from my design work than to see my clients fullyengaged in the nurturing, fine-tuning, guiding and managing of the garden we’vecreated – preferably together.

The realisation of this desire, which took me at least a decade to grasp and thenarticulate, has led to one of my biggest dilemmas. That professional design can lead toclients being alienated from, rather than connected with, their gardens.

Sometimes they’ve got no idea how to achieve the design effect they know they want.Sometimes they’ve got no idea how to look after a garden, so look for professionalassistance in creating a garden that matches their skills, or lack of them in this case.Sometimes they’ve no confidence in their taste, and want to buy something they canfeel sure is cool – or enviable. This is my least favourite group, but happens to be wheremost of the money is. If you can create, and be the primary purveyor of, the next bigthing, then financial success is assured.

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And sometimes they’reknowledgeable andaccomplished gardeners whonevertheless know that they’llnever be satisfied if theirgardens are limited to their ownabilities. My observation is thatthe best gardeners are alsothe ones most frustrated bythe limits of their ability.They’re the ones always askingfor more from their gardens, andnever want to rest on theirlaurels. This is my favouritegroup by far. I love starting in agood garden and cooking upideas with the owner about howit could be better still.Primarily I see my job asproviding empowerment. Itherefore never felt more of afailure as a designer than theday when I client rang – one

who had previously considered herself a somewhat competent gardener, one that would atleast give things a go – and asked where she should put some plants she’d been given. Itried to throw the decision, and even the thinking process, back at her, but she was terrifiedthat she’d ‘mess things up’.

About the same time, it occurred to me that none of my favourite gardens in the world wasdesigned by a professional designer. In every case they were personal expressions of theowner, and lovely or lovable for precisely that reason. It has made me all the moredetermined as a designer to simply facilitate garden owners to fulfill their own dreams. Thatmight mean teasing out and clarifying those dreams, as well as thinking of creative waysthese could be achieved, and providing the practical advice required for execution. Buteven then, I’ve discovered there’s no easy way of doing this without interrupting theconnection between the owner and the space they inhabit. It’s a very, very fine (and timeconsuming, and non-lucrative) line to walk.

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[Note - all photos are of work that has emerged from a collaborative process with Michael McCoy, and theconsequent gardens are implemented, maintained and guided to maturity by the client]

Californian drought worsensGardenDrum July 18, 2014

California : “We are facing the worst drought impact that we or ourgrandparents have ever seen and, more important, we have no idea when it willend.”

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California’s State Water Board Chair Felicia Marcus has issued a blunt warning to waterusers throughout the state that mandatory water restrictions are on the way.

“This drought’s impacts are being felt by communities all over California. Fields arefallowed; communities are running out of water, fish and wildlife will be devastated. Theleast that urban Californians can do is to not waste water on outdoor uses. It is in their self-interest to conserve more, now, to avoid far more harsh restrictions, if the drought lastsinto the future. These regulations are meant to spark awareness of the seriousness of thesituation, and could be expanded if the drought wears on and people do not act.”

Although Governor Brown called on all Californians to reduce their water consumption by20% back in April, new figures show that water use has gone up 1%, not down.

The State Water Board decision directs water authorities throughout the state to implementtheir Water Shortage Contingency Plans which will impose restrictions on outdoor wateruse and fines of up to $500/day for non-compliance.

The Desert Water Agency, which covers Palm Springs and Cathedral City, has announcedits plan will take effect from August 1. Restrictions include: a ban on washing down of alloutdoor hard surfaces, including driveways and buildings, prohibiting landscapeirrigation between 10am and 5pm, and no running water to be used during car washing,except for rinsing. Restaurant customers can be only be served water if they request it.

Although these restrictions will no doubt concern many Californians, they still seemsurprisingly lenient compared to the water restrictions that are frequently imposedin Australia and also the UK, where complete hosepipe bans have become increasinglyfrequent during dry summers.

Many Australian cities had strict water saving measures for several years until 2012,including: complete bans on hard surface and car washing (except with a bucket); that allfixed irrigation had to be by drip-emitters only; an allowance of only 4 short periods of handwatering per week; and the requirement that all hose nozzles must have a shut-off trigger.In some towns, the only water that was allowed outside was grey water collected in abucket from the shower or bath and you could be fined for even having a hose connectedto a tap.

2013 set a new record in California for the lowest rainfall ever. There are graveconcerns that without water saving measures upstream, water in the Delta, which providesfresh drinking water to most of the San Francisco Bay area, will become too saline foreither human consumption or to sustain marine life.

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Kenrokuen Garden, Kanazawa, JapanJeff Howes, Sydney

While on a 3 week holiday to Japan, In Nov 2014, I visited the impeccably maintainedKenrokuen Garden in Kanazawa, one of Japan's top three gardens .The pamphlet thatcame with my entry described this wonderful garden"........as combining the sixattributes of a perfect landscaped garden:spaciousness, seclusion, artifice,  antiquity,water courses and panoramas.". These six attributes were originally stated in agardening book by Li  Gefei, a famous 16th century Chinese poet, and are one of thecriteria that Japanese gardens are assessed.

Another pamphlet went on toexplain that it is a park ofcontradictions. Each of thesepoints represent features thatare usually impossible to findtogether. The depth and subtletyhave it ranked in the top threemostbeautiful in Japan. There isa phase in Japanese, "ichigoichie" that translates to "this timeonly" or "over again." It isphilosophy of living in themoment and cherishing thepresent you will never be able torelive this exact moment again.Nowhere is this more apparentthan in Kenrokuen. Everyseason brings something new.Every section of the park isconstantly changing but stayingtrue to the idea of contrastingideas, some things have notchanged for hundreds of years.

Does this idea of "ichigoichie"(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichi-go_ichi-e)  apply or can it

apply to all gardens including Australian native gardens?  Australian gardens change somuch between seasons due to the extremes of ever changing climate,  should we bethinking more like the Japanese and cherish the present moment when viewing ourgardens and doing less long term planning except for items like hard landscaping andmajor backbone plantings of trees?..................  and in Australia how old would a garden need to be to tick the antiquity box?

The photograph of the tree above that has its trunk wrapped in hessian to stop newgrowth was new to me. This is done  after they prune the trees totrain/maintain the common Japanese style of trees and shrubs havinghorizontal branches.   Would it work on native plants and has anyone triedit?

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New UK National Pollinator StrategyGardenDrum November 9, 2014

Highway verges, forests and railwayembankments are set to become beehavens under a new UK NationalPollinator Strategy.

Between the National Trust, Network Railand Highways Agency there are 800,000hectares of land where new bee-friendlywildflower plantings and changedlandscape management practices, such

as allowing grass to grow longer, will encourage a broad range of pollinating insectsthrough increased food and habitat.

The Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) says there are 1500species of pollinators that are important to British agriculture, especially bees, whichpollinate one third of all food crops.

Supermarket chains are also distributing wildflowers seeds to encourage privatelandholders to get involved as well.

Photo Christine Westerback

Report of Melbourne garden visit and meeting,Sunday November 16 Diana Snape, Vic

We met at Bev and John Hanson's place for our last meeting of the year. For a detailedaccount of the Hansons' wonderful garden, please refer to Margaret James' record on theGDSG website. However, of course, a garden does keep changing.

Garden visitFirst Bev showed us an area of eucalypt woodland (on the edge of their cultivated garden)that had a cool burn in April this year. Over 30 fire-fighters (CFA and DEPPI), with the backingof Manningham Council, carried out the burn - a major undertaking that she and John certainlywould not have tackled on their own. The fire did not burn up any tree trunks nor reach thecanopy. A series of photos showed how this area regenerated in the following months andwe could see how the risk of a serious fire had been reduced, especially compared with anadjacent, unburnt area. We also saw the Hansons' fire-shelter, an old mining shaft with twoentrances - to be used only as a last resort.Bev showed us wonderful photos that their son has taken of the inhabitants of the nest boxesthat he has put up in the garden. These included sugar gliders with young, phascogales,ring-tail and brush-tail possums, kookaburras, wood ducks, Eastern rosellas, galahs andrainbow lorikeets (inspecting). It's great to have photos that prove how much the boxes areused and the value of the garden for wildlife. They have also recently had spotted pardalotesnesting in the fire bunker and seen a powerful owl and yellow-tailed black-cockatoos. As we walked around the garden, Bev pointed out that many plants were now 40 years old.These included smaller shrubs like thryptomene and.baeckea, in addition to Acacia boormanii

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and Greviillea obtusifolia. A sculptural Acacia vestita on a mound had regenerated therefrom the original plant and now makes a beautiful small feature tree.Afterwards, it was fascinating to see photos of the completely flat land area around the housebefore Bev and John started the earthworks that laid the basis for the garden as it is today.Mounding of the earth for the creation of garden beds provided an attractive visual barrierbetween their house and the neighbours not far away. It also gave the garden scope formuch more interest, with different aspects and niches.The beautiful and quite extensive use of pools and rocks reflects Bev's experience workingwith Ellis Stones. The water is all recycled and the pools look very natural, withcomplementary planting. They provide lovely cool areas in the garden, especially in summer.Bev said that, sadly, a couple of well-established Tree-ferns did not survive the damagingseries of hot days last summer, though they had survived the long drought.People commented on the beautiful views from inside the house, making the gardenever-present. There is a great variety of different plants but sufficient repetition to link thegarden together and give it a natural appearance, blending with the surrounding bush.

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Meeting Sunday November 16

There is still no real progress on the Ellis Stones Memorial Garden - maybe next year?Similarly, we hope to make more progress next year in the process of recording gardens.Margaret James, our key activist, has been recovering from surgery and happily is now ableto help others in the group. There are a number of Melbourne gardens on the list, eitherbeing recorded now or to be recorded soon. These include those of Chris Larkin, Bev Fox,Brenda and Tony Moore, Helen Kennedy and Eleanor Hodges. Of course, it is particularlyimportant to record long-established gardens when people are thinking of moving.A number of the same members are hoping to record the gardens of others, as are PamYarra and Nicky Zanen. We'd also like to record some outstanding gardens outsideMelbourne, such as those below. It depends on us having the time and opportunity.

Previous garden visitsThis was our first chance to comment on the gardens we visited during the Grampiansweekend. We thought that the Lewins were struggling against harsher conditions than theMarriotts, with some of their soil resembling red concrete rather than the Marriotts' freelydraining granitic soil. Neil and Wendy's more naturalistic garden, with a wide selection ofinteresting and beautiful plants, appealed to everyone - a normal reaction among usAustralian plant lovers! Unfortunately, our visit here was very rushed as most of us had toleave for Melbourne that afternoon but we were very glad to have fitted it in, however briefly.Definitely a garden that should be recorded as soon as possible.We really liked some aspects of the Lewins' more formalistic garden, which is well on theway to becoming quite outstanding. Repetition of some well-chosen and lovely plants wasused to good effect, especially complementing the stunning house. There were strikingfeature plants (such as flowering Xanthorrhoeas) but, with the difficult, often dry conditions,some plants had not survived and the range of plants was somewhat limited. We respectedthe use of interesting hard surfaces around the house to reduce fire risk but thought thenumber of different surfaces used detracted from the continuity. Carefully placed sculpturesadded interest to some areas of the garden. We appreciated being shown around by thegardener, Andrew, and Neil Marriott and we thought the garden will benefit greatly from theirattention and input.

Meetings for next yearBetween now and then, I hope you have an enjoyable & restful Christmas season.

The first two meetings of 2015 will be as follows. (The timing as usual will be 1pm for a BYOlunch, 2pm for the meeting.) I hope to see you there.Sunday March 15 at Pam and Jim Yarra's, 65A Dickasons Road, Heathmont (Melway 64B2).This first meeting is important for some planning for the year.Sunday May 24 at Bob and Dot O'Neill's, 7 Hillsmeade Drive, Narre Warren South (Melway130 D3). It will be most interesting to see the O'Neills' new garden.

Garden Visit – Milton, South Coast, NSW Catriona Bate and Phil Trickett, NSW

Members of the Day Activities Group (DAG) of ANPS-Canberra Region and the GardenDesign Study Group (GDSG) made the trek from the ACT to the South Coast to visit ourgarden on an unusually grey and threatening day on 13 October. While the rain held off fora later tour of the garden and lunch, a morning shower allowed a detailed demonstrationand lively discussion of propagation and grafting techniques in the shelter of the shed.

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Our property is located on the edge of the escarpment overlooking Lake Conjola and Miltonat an elevation of 350m, just below the Little Forest Plateau area of the Morton NationalPark. We are about ten kilometres from the sea. While the national park and much of thesurrounding bush is classic Sydney sandstone country, we are on the rich soils of formerrainforest pockets once used for dairy farming and cedar cutting. The volcanic soil is derivedfrom the Milton monzonite. Of our two hectares, the steep slopes near the creek runningthrough the back of the property remain original rainforest while the relatively level areasnearer the house where we are creating gardens have extensive areas of lawn dominatedby kikuyu grass introduced for cattle.We chose this property because it seemed to be able to support native plants(demonstrated by the number of healthy Hakea salicifolia trees), had good rainfall (we weresick of the drought in Canberra), was large enough for our purposes but still manageable,and had an area suitable for creating a garden which did not require the destruction ofexisting bush. In addition it had a suitable existing house, and was no further away fromfamily than Canberra had been.In terms of climate, the Little Forest locality has around double Canberra’s rainfall (around1,200mm a year), more moderate temperatures, and no frost. Winter temperatures may beas low as six degrees overnight in winter, but in summer can reach the forties although hightwenties and early thirties with humidity are more typical. It differs from the coastal climate ofnearby Ulladulla in being less influenced by easterly weather patterns although we doexperience east coast lows which usually deliver large amounts of rain in a short period. Amajor influence is the strong westerly wind which comes in over the escarpment in thewinter months. We have also noticed that our climate appears to be more moderate thanother south coast towns such as Batemans Bay.

Garden bed near the house

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This garden has given us the opportunity to further pursue the growing of native plants afteroutgrowing our suburban block in Ainslie, Canberra. It is now about four years old, and isconstantly evolving. There were many practical considerations which influenced the design,such as prevailing winds, slope, and drainage. While there was no overall design, we wantedto achieve a relatively informal garden that:

· celebrates and displays Australian native plants

· is filled with a wide range of plants we love such as banksias, dryandras, grevilleas,isopogons, waratahs and eremophilas; and allows for the study and reporting of their progressin cultivation

· allows for growing trials of grafted plants, many of which are endangered in the wild

· is attractive to native birds and insects

· provides us with privacy

· requires relatively low maintenance

· complements and enhances the sea and escarpment views

· is a sustainable landscape, structurally and botanically diverse

House garden bed with Pimelia ferruginea

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Our first aim was to progressively clear the existing exotic garden which was highmaintenance, overgrown and weedy. It was dominated by plants which spreadaggressively via suckering, bulbs and tubers as well as seed – a long-term eliminationchallenge. We also had many plants in pots brought from Canberra, which needed to beplanted out. Some of these were precious grafts dug out of our Ainslie garden andtransplanted as advanced plants. We quickly planted a screen of Grevillea johnsonii besidea neighbouring garage for privacy (now at least five metres tall). Plants are easier for us tomaintain once they are in the garden, as they do not usually require watering after planting.We first tackled the existing garden around the house, then along the driveway, at thesame time developing a large new garden area on the level space on the south of theblock. We extended the beds around the house down the existing slope which providesgood drainage. Along the driveway we raised the beds with additional soil and/or largeredging rocks.The garden incorporates curving paths to create different vistas. The rock naturallyoccurring on the property has been used extensively for garden edging, to build height ingarden beds, and for rockeries. A visit to Cranbourne Botanic Gardens in Victoria inspiredthe use of the smaller rocks in bands about a foot wide for garden edging. The gravel usedfor the paths is sourced locally and has a range of sizes and shapes which has a lessformal effect. We are also planting out the sight of the fence line and road to incorporatethe wider view of the ocean into the garden.

Top: Southerngarden in 2010

Below: Sourherngarden in 2015

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The move from Canberra brought many changes to our gardening and propagationpractices. We were faced with completely new challenges:· The soil retains moisture very well and in some places is quite heavy. Subsurface rock and

natural springs add to the moisture levels in some areas, not to mention the dam which leaks(perhaps we should import some Canberra clay to seal it!). High rainfall events lead to some localpooling of water. We have found that many plants need to be grafted to flourish here, particularlyeremophilas and WA isopogons and dryandras. This provides an opportunity to demonstrate thevalue of grafting plants. We also have some very dry and hard soil in the garden.

· The vigour of the kikuyu grass has provided a challenge to reduce constant maintenance. Itspreads by long runners and will quickly overwhelm anything in its path, including agapanthusand large rocks. Our strategy has been to develop defined beds, keeping the kikuyu away fromthe garden as much as possible, using gravel rather than grass for paths, large beds rather thansmall ‘islands’ in the kikuyu, and progressively reducing the amount of lawn where possible.Mulching garden beds and poisoning around the edges of anything abutting the kikuyu also helpsto keep it under control. Thankfully, kikuyu does not grow during the winter.

· The down side of the vigour of plants produced by the rich soil is, of course, the vigour of weedswhich we generally control with thick mulch. Some plants put on spectacular growth throughspring and summer but are top-heavy, lacking an adequate root system when the winter windshit. These plants tend to fall over although in some cases they can be propped up and willrecover.

Above: Isopogon divergens and to the right:Grevillea georgiana

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· In addition to causing plants to fall over, we find that very strong wind can cause some largeplants to snap at the base and either disappear completely, or be found hundreds of metresaway on the fence line. Hakeas and some grevilleas are particularly susceptible. Brokenbranches and shredded leaves can also occur. Our current strategy to address wind damageis to use tomato stakes, and increasingly, star pickets, to assist larger plants. Pruning longbranches which are likely to catch the wind has also been helpful. We are also trying to nestleplants together so they can protect each other, and to plant more wind breaks which will helpin the longer term. As the garden grows, the plants will be more protected.

· We first became aware of the negative aspects of the wildlife after noticing that many plantsseemed to be shrinking rather than growing, the new growth proving irresistible to rabbits andwallabies. Waratah and orchid flowers are particular wallaby delicacies (also citrus leaves).Both animals are now under control with the former targeted using bunnybait and the latterwith strategic fencing. We just put up with wombats who like to trample plants, dig and leavetheir droppings, and, occasionally, kangaroos breaking branches.

· While humidity is not generally a major problem due to constant air movement at thiselevation, borer and webbing moth is much more common here, requiring constant vigilance.We find it difficult to grow many eucalypts without constant spraying.

Our most recent project was a rockery created from large rocks in situ discovered under amound of kikuyu. Our next project is to tackle the jungle in the exotic garden bed on thesouth side of the house, and then continue around to the back of the house. In the futurewe will look at the large expanse of lawn bordered by garden beds which stretches alongthe front of the block, and also the northern part of the garden near the dam.The plants in our garden include many which are rare and grafted, as well as locals. Wehave planted 67 species and subspecies of banksia (38 grafted), 90 species of hakea (23grafted), 21 species of isopogon (14 grafted), and 40 species of eremophila (most ofwhich are grafted). There are also many species of dryandra, grevillea, and waratah doingwell. The success of different species of waratah on their own roots is particularlypleasing given we could not grow them in Canberra.

Telopea ‘Shady Lady’

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The garden is always changing. Plants at their peak for the recent visit included waratahs(‘Shady Lady’, ‘Braidwood Brilliant’, mongaensis, speciosissima and oreades), grevilleas(‘Elegance’, eriostachya, williamsonii, georgeana, alpina, lanigera), local isopogons(anethifolius and anemonifolius) and petrophiles (canescens), WA Isopogon divergens,boronias (muelleri, pinnata), eremophilas (cuneifolius, mackinlayi, nivea, hygrophana),pimeleas (suaveolens, nivea, spectabilis, ferruginea) and Alyogyne huegelii.Only a month or so earlier the highlights were very different, with Isopogon cuneatus,Pimelea physodes, hakeas (purpurea, lehmanniana, bucculenta), hardenbergias,grevilleas (maxwellii, ‘Canning Classic’), local banksias (spinulosa cultivars), and WABanksia praemorsa ‘Lemon Lantern’ contributing to the floral display.Now the show for Christmas is beginning, with a red palette of Christmas Bush(Ceratopetalum gummiferum), Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos flavidus) and flowering gum(Eucalytpus ficifolia), complemented by repeat flowering waratahs, and red callistemons.

Eucalyptus ficifolia photographed in Ian Tranter’s garden in Queanbeyan

Treasurer’s ReportCash on hand:

Account 285385 $ 8,566.46 Account 181703 $ 6.20Term Deposit: Due 19 July 2014 $ 23,811.05 (will accrue interest of $ 463.30)

Total Value of all deposits: $ 32,383.71

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Index

Leader’s Comments Ben Walcott, Canberra Page 1

Correspondence Page 1

Redesigning a Native Meadow Ros Walcott , Canberra Page 2

UK Nurseries suffer from cheap plants Page 9

Sculpture in the Garden Page 10

Dilemmas of a Designer Michael McCoy Page 11

California drought worsens Page 14

Kenrokuen Garden, Kanazaea, Japan Jeff Howes, Sydney Page 16

New UK Pollinator Strategy Page 18

Report of Melbourne Garden Visit and Meeting Diana Snape, Vic Page 18

Garden Visit - Milton NSW Catriona Bate and Phil Trickett, NSW Page 21

Treasurer’s report Ben Walcott, Canberra Page 27

Index Page 28

ANPSA Garden Design Study Group Newsletter is published four timesper year in February, May, August and November.Copy is due by the first of the these months although earlier submissions will be welcomedby the Editor.Newsletter Editor:Rosalind Walcott, 10 Wickham Cres. Red Hill ACT 2603 Phone: (02) 6161 2742Email: rwalcott@netspeed.com.au

Membership dues 2014-2015: per yearEmail Newsletter: $ 6.00

Paper Newsletter $ 15.00

Concession paper $ 10.00 (For pensioners and full-time students only)

Dues by cheque or EFT to BSB 032-729, Account # 28-5385